Three Things Lawyers Should Know, March 2, 2009

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Three Things Lawyers Should Know, February 23, 2009

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I left a bar and was attacked in the parking lot by two men who had been fighting inside about a Yankees-Red Sox game on TV. Can I sue the bar?

The owner of a bar or restaurant may, under some circumstances, be responsible for injuries caused by the criminal conduct of a third person — for example, if the owner contributed to the conduct by serving the assailant too many drinks. Also, if a bar has a history of fights or other violent crimes, so that the owner is on notice that altercations like this might happen, the owner might have an obligation to try to prevent such occurrences by hiring a “bouncer” or other security personnel,... More

The decriminalization of marijuana after Question 2: A cop’s take

OK, here is yet another whining, sore-loser cop weighing in on the outcome of the last fall’s referendum on Question 2, the decriminalization of marijuana. Perhaps being the father of a teenage son has something to do with it — or maybe the fact that I have always thought it best not to fix something that isn’t broken. For those not... More

Rival Makers of Fart-Sound iPhone Apps Head to Court

Two rival companies that sell iPhone applications that produce farting noises are headed toward a flatulence showdown in a federal court in Denver. The trouble began when Air-O-Matic, which makes the “Pull My Finger” app, demanded $50,000 from a rival called “iFart Mobile.” Air-O-Matic accused iFart of trademark infringement after... More

Judge: Woman Not Really Worth 300 Gazillion Dollars

A woman who was jailed for defrauding people by claiming to be the world’s wealthiest person has been ordered to pay restitution despite her plea for an adjournment so she could prove to the court that she really was worth a million billion trillion dollars. Elda Beguinua told the court her net worth was “300 followed by 41 zeros,”... More

Man Is Jailed for Whistling Addams Family Theme Song

A man has been sent to prison for harassing his neighbors for four years by whistling the theme song from “The Addams Family” every time he saw them. Michael Sharpe, 68, testified that neighbor Leopold Wroble “very nearly succeeded” in his effort to “destroy our lives,” and that his wife was so upset by the whistling that she started losing... More

Did University Plagiarize Its Anti-Plagiarism Policy?

A committee charged with developing an anti-plagiarism policy for Southern Illinois University has been accused of plagiarizing its policy by copying one from Indiana University without giving it credit. The 10-member committee of academics and administrators produced a 139-word definition of plagiarism that is nearly identical to the one... More

Hiring Only Capricorns Isn’t Illegal Job Discrimination

A company that wants to hire only Capricorns – or people with other specific zodiac signs – is not illegally discriminating, at least under the law of Austria. That’s because the law only bans discrimination based on race, gender, age, and so on. And people of every race, gender and age can be Capricorns. The issue came up because an insurance... More

7 TIPS for Getting Money from Massachusetts

Have you ever worked for the state of Massachusetts? If so, you could be owed money. Yup, there’s millions of dollars waiting to be claimed right now. But unless the state manages to find you, you might never know you have cash lying in its coffers . 1. Are you talking about that list of names I see once in a... More

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